Favorite Christmas Ornaments

I just thought I'd share a few of my favorite ornaments.  I love them all so much.  I think it's wonderful that we each have these treasures that we pull out once a year, and they bring back lovely memories, brighten our homes, and make us thankful for all we have.  Be aware -- this is a picture heavy post.  As designers with design degrees know, sometimes the best canvases are tiny ones.

  

 This is one of my most recently acquired treasures.  It's the antithesis of a Christmas Village.  Rather, it's a Christmas trailer park.  Someday, when the weather is nice again, I'll show you my little camper, and you'll totally understand.

Last year, when everyone was making coffee filter wreaths, I was too.  This is mine, and I love it.

I can't keep Christmas without a nativity scene.  Some years, I have skipped the tree, but I've always had a nativity.  I love this one - so beautiful in ivory and gold, although I know Jesus was born under much more lowly circumstances.  He sits on the throne of my heart every day of the year. I have a special tradition for the baby Jesus.  I wrap him up in a little box, and, after we've read the Christmas story in the book of Luke on Christmas Eve, it's the first gift we open.... because Jesus is the best Christmas present of all. 

This pretty little Currier and Ives reminds me of my grandparents, all of whom have now passed.  I miss them so, but especially at Christmas.

I'm sharing this one just because I think it's beautiful.

I've had this treetop angel for years.  I work hard to keep her nice.  She's one of the best ones I've ever seen.  I'm not one of those people who make a big deal about angels.  I know that they are real and that their primary duty is to point the way to God.  

 

This little angel is made from a cotton boll.  I just think it's unusual, and unusually cute.

When I was a girl, my mom always had us make ornaments during the Christmas season.  Often they'd come in kits from LeeWards.  I don't know if that place is even in business anymore, but I remember making this ornament when I was about 16.  (Either that or I made the baby blue one that's hanging on my sister's tree and she made this one - too many years have passed to make any difference any more!)

I sang for a friend's wedding some years ago.  (As I recall, it was This is the Day by Scott Wesley Brown - this link is NOT me singing, however, although it's darned good.) This was the corsage she gave each member of the wedding party, including vocalists.  It's a lovely ornament and a sweet reminder of the day and her friendship.

1982 was a very good year indeed.  See how adorable my daughters were?  They were just ages 3 and 1.  Today, of course, they are 30 and 32.  But I remember those early Christmases with a great deal of sentimentalism.  I made the dresses they are wearing in this pic, by the way, as I did most of their special occasion dresses for years.

This odd little photo shows the Christmas village I have put out for years.  I love it, although I know its days are numbered.  I bought it when my elder daughter was in third grade, making it about 24 or 25 years old.  It's made of flattened, dyed wheat straw, and is intricately detailed.  If you can believe it, I bought it from Oriental Trading Company, and I think I spent about $15 for the whole thing.

Each of these little houses has a little surprise.  It's a box!  The lids lift off each and every one.  I've never put anything in any of them, but I love that I could.....

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me.  It may not mean much to anyone else, but I'll bet my girls read this and enjoy it.

Love,

Sass